Priceless Jewellery Stolen from Louvre in Expert Heist

Priceless” historic jewellery has been stolen from the Louvre in Paris after a highly professional robbery by men who used an angle grinder to break through glass and enter one of the museum’s most ornate rooms.

The world’s most-visited museum was suddenly closed for the day after the break-in targeted pieces in two glass cases in its Apollon gallery, where the French crown jewels are held.

A crown worn in the 19th century by Empress Eugénie, the wife of Napoleon III, was found broken near the museum after the thieves fled. It features golden eagles and is covered in 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds. Up to nine pieces of jewellery are believed to have been taken in the robbery.

The French interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, visited the scene and told France Inter radio that “priceless” jewels “of unmeasurable heritage value” were stolen after what was clearly a well-organised raid.

The thieves struck at 9.30am local time on Sunday and Nuñez said it took them seven minutes to make off with the jewels. He said: “They stole jewels which have a real heritage value, an inestimable heritage value.”

The thieves approached the building from the outside, at an area where building work was taking place. A truck and a basket lift were used to access the museum. They used an angle grinder and power tools to break windows and enter. Nuñez said it was the work of “an experienced team who had clearly scouted the location”.

He said three or four suspects had fled – their route was known and police were investigating whether it was a gang known to them for other crimes. Investigators were studying footage from security cameras.

Nuñez would not confirm what jewels were taken but said the thieves targeted two glass cases. The gilded Apollon gallery of the Louvre, the ornate decoration of which was commissioned by the Sun King, Louis XIV, has a collection of historic crowns, diadems and sovereign jewellery. It is one of the museum’s most spectacular rooms. Pieces usually on display there include three historic diamonds, the Regent, the Sancy and the Hortensia, as well as an emerald and diamond necklace that Napoleon gave to his wife, Marie Louise.https://interactive.guim.co.uk/uploader/embed/2025/10/louvre-zip/giv-32554gvI6L52ovE3g/?dark=false

Nuñez said the museum was evacuated to preserve evidence and to allow investigators and forensics teams to carry out their work. He later wrote on social media: “Targeting the Louvre is targeting out history and our heritage.”

The Paris prosecutor has opened an inquiry into the theft. Work was under way to estimate the value of the stolen pieces.

Le Parisien newspaper reported that the thieves had been dressed in building attire, wearing yellow hi-vis jackets.

The French culture minister, Rachida Dati, was first to announce the incident. “A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum,” she wrote on social media. She used the French word braquage, which can mean robbery or hold-up. She added: “No injuries reported. I’m on site with museum staff and police.”

Dati confirmed that one stolen piece of jewellery was recovered outside the museum where the thieves had fled.

At least one person had entered the museum, a member of her team told Agence France-Presse, without adding anything about any possible theft.

The Louvre, said it was closing for the day “for exceptional reasons”, without providing further details on what had been stolen.

Politicians were quick to react. Ariel Weil, the Socialist mayor of Paris’s central area said he was “shocked” and that it seemed like a storyline from a film. He told Le Parisien: “It’s hard to imagine that it was seemingly so easy to burgle the Louvre.”

Jordan Bardella, the president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, said: “The Louvre is a global symbol of our culture. This robbery, that has allowed thieves to take the jewels of the French crown, is an unbearable humiliation for our country.”

The office of the president, Emmanuel Macron, said he was following events closely.

One of the largest arts centres on the planet, the Louvre attracts more than 8 million visitors a year. Its works range from classical sculpture to the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s 16th-century masterpiece and the world’s most famous portrait.

In January, Macron announced a major renovation of the museum after its director said that visiting the overcrowded building had become a “physical ordeal”.

In a note to the cultural ministry leaked to the media in January, the Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, had said the space below the museum’s glass pyramid entrance was not properly insulated from the cold or heat, tended to amplify noise, and was uncomfortable for both the public and the staff.

Des Cars also raised the alarm over water leaks, failing infrastructure and temperature swings that endanger the conservation of works of art. Visitors faced overcrowding and substandard facilities, she said.

The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous was in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame.

An Italian painter and decorator, Vincenzo Peruggia, had hidden all night in a museum cupboard before taking the picture from its frame and leaving the building, apparently unseen. It was 24 hours before anyone noticed the painting was missing.

The poet Guillaume Apollinaire and the painter Pablo Picasso were both questioned by police. The painting was recovered three years later in Florence and returned to Paris.

The most recent theft in the Louvre dates to 1998, when a painting by the 19th-century French artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot was removed from the wall. It has never been found, but its disappearance led to a review of security at the museum.

Several museums across France have been targeted by thieves in recent months. Last month, criminals used an angle grinder to break into Paris’s Natural History Museum, stealing gold samples with a street value of €600,000 but priceless to scientists and researchers.

Last November, four men with axes and baseball bats smashed display cases in broad daylight at the Cognacq-Jay Museum in Paris targeting a popular exhibition, Pocket Luxury, which featured small precious objects from the 18th century. Seven valuable tobacco boxes were stolen, some of which had been on loan from the Louvre and the UK’s royal collection.

When Macron pledged this year that the Louvre would be “redesigned, restored and enlarged”, he said he hoped the the annual number of visitors would rise to 12 million.